There is a variety of storing and dispensing containers in the market, particularly those for storing and dispensing personal care products. Personal care products, specifically wipes, have been made from a variety of materials which can be dry or wet when used. Wet wipes can be moistened with a variety of suitable wiping solutions. Such wet wipes have been designed for end uses including, but not limited to, baby wipes, hand wipes, household cleaning wipes, industrial wipes, and the like.
Typically, the dispensing containers are rectangular shaped and are configured to store the wet wipes in a stacked configuration in a horizontal orientation or the dispensing containers are cylindrical in shape and configured to store the wipes in a rolled configuration in a vertical orientation. When the wet wipes are stored in a stacked configuration, the wipes can be in a folded configuration, such as a c-folded, z-folded or quarter-folded configuration, or other configurations as are well known to those skilled in the art. Sometimes the folded wet wipes have also been interfolded with the wet wipes immediately above and below in the stack of wet wipes. When the wipes are stored in a rolled configuration, the wipes have commonly been placed in containers in the form of a continuous web of material in a roll and is stored in the cylindrical dispenser in a vertical orientation. Such continuous webs often include perforations to separate the individual wet wipes.
In either configuration, these conventional wet wipes packages have generally provided a plastic container, tub, or package which provides a sealed environment for the wet wipes to ensure that they do not become dirty and/or to inhibit a reduction of moisture. Some containers have a lid that is opened by pressing a button on top of the container to disengage a latch and provide access to the wipes. In some containers, the lid is configured to remain open to allow the consumer access to dispense one or more wipes from the container. After completing the desired dispensing, a consumer is required to shut the lid on the container to protect the wipes from dirt and other debris in the environment, and in the context of wet wipes, to provide a seal to retain the moisture properties of the wipes. However, the latches and latching mechanisms that are common to conventional containers, present a potential to not be fully engaged, and thus, not provide the proper protection from the surrounding elements and not form the desired seal, including when the consumer may believe that such latching mechanism has engaged and formed a proper seal.
Additionally, the conventional containers which contain wipes have typically been designed to be positioned on a flat surface such as a countertop, table, flat workstation, toilet tank lid, or the like. In some situations, the consumer may desire to open the lid of the container, dispense the necessary amount of wipes, and close the lid of the container with one hand without removing the container from the flat surface. Some of the conventional containers do not allow such operation, and even in the containers which do allow it, such containers may become unstable during the opening of the lid, the dispensing of the wipes, or the closing of the lid. Furthermore, sometimes it is desired to keep the containers against a vertical surface when performing these operations, such as a wall, where they are out of the way for other activities that may occur on the flat surface or items that may also be stored on the flat surface. Such storage concerns may present difficulties in opening the lid, dispensing the wipes, or closing of the lid as desired.
In the dispensers storing the wipes in a stacked configuration and in a horizontal orientation, the wipes are often placed in a horizontal position with a parallel dispensing partition above the stack so that the wipes are dispensed in an upward fashion. While this design has proven dispensing performance, it requires a large space footprint when free-standing and limits wall mounting opportunities.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a container for dispensing wipes that may be placed in an upright position without affecting dispensing performance or the ability to open and properly close the lid. There is also need to provide a container for dispensing wipes that has enhanced handling, opening, dispensing, and closing abilities to ensure proper sealing and increased stability when the consumer is utilizing the container.